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In 2020, more details have been revealed about the man behind The Undertaker character, Mark Calaway, than in the previous 29 years put together.
The Undertaker’s Last Ride docuseries on the WWE Network gave fans a fascinating insight into the difficult decisions that The Deadman has had to make in the latter stages of his career.
The series also focused on The Undertaker’s real-life friendship with Vince McMahon, as well as his own personal opinion on some of his WWE storylines.
Regarding McMahon’s creative ideas for The Undertaker’s character, WWE director Bruce Prichard told an amusing story about what used to happen when ‘Taker went into the WWE Chairman’s office to try to change a certain segment or storyline.
“He [The Undertaker] would walk in all fired up, then walk out shaking his head. You could tell that, as soon as Vince started to speak, he’d cast a spell over 'Taker. Mark would end up walking out of the meeting with Vince, loving whatever idea he hated walking in.”
Over the years, The Undertaker has had plenty of his own ideas approved by McMahon and the rest of WWE’s higher-ups. However, in some cases, he has also had to go through with ideas that he was not particularly fond of.
In this article, let’s take a look at three ideas that The Undertaker pitched, as well as three that he initially rejected.
#6 The Undertaker initially rejected Mick Foley’s Hell in a Cell fall
After The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels’ epic Hell in a Cell match at Badd Blood 1997, Mick Foley wanted to create his own Hell in a Cell moment by getting thrown off the top of the structure at King of the Ring 1998.
Speaking on the Something to Wrestle With podcast, Bruce Prichard’s co-host Conrad Thompson recalled that Foley wrote in his book that Terry Funk jokingly suggested that the match should start on top of Hell in a Cell.
Foley took the idea seriously and decided to pitch it to The Undertaker.
“He spends the next week or two trying to pitch The Undertaker on starting up top, and The Undertaker shoots it down every time. Eventually, he says to Cactus [Mick Foley], ‘Why are you so intent on killing yourself up there?’ And Foley wrote that he answered, ‘Because I’m afraid the match is gonna stink.’”
Foley also had concerns about the condition of his opponent – The Undertaker had a broken foot heading into the match – while he admitted that his own character did not have any heat at the time.
Needless to say, The Undertaker decided to go ahead with the risky Hell in a Cell spot in the end.
#5 The Undertaker pitched his WWE RAW promo about Goldberg
The fourth episode of The Undertaker’s Last Ride series revolved around his WWE Super ShowDown match against Goldberg.
WWE’s cameras followed The Undertaker ahead of his appearance on the final episode of WWE RAW before the event.
The Undertaker interacted with Superstars including Charlotte Flair, Mojo Rawley, The Miz, Seth Rollins, Triple H, and Cesaro in the ring and in the backstage area. He then had a meeting with Vince McMahon about his segment for that night’s RAW in Austin, Texas.
After leaving McMahon’s office, The Undertaker told the camera that his boss agreed to go along with the idea that he pitched.
“I got what I wanted. First time maybe in 29 years he listened to my suggestion. I don’t know if I should be worried or not.”
As you can see in the video at the top of this page, The Undertaker cut a promo about Goldberg “facing death for the first time” at Super ShowDown.
He also warned the WCW legend that he wanted to face the “unstoppable, mythical, iconic” version of Goldberg, as opposed to the Goldberg who tries to entertain his wife and child in the front row.
#4 The Undertaker initially rejected Shane McMahon’s Hell in a Cell jump
The Undertaker defeated the returning Shane McMahon in a Hell in a Cell match at WrestleMania 32, but the major story from the match involved McMahon’s leap from the top of the Hell in a Cell structure.
Towards the end of the 30-minute match, McMahon attempted to send The Undertaker through the announce desk after launching himself off the top of Hell in a Cell.
The Undertaker moved out of the way, meaning McMahon landed directly on the announce desk.
Writing in an ESPN article in 2020, Vince McMahon’s son revealed that The Undertaker did not want him to perform the high-risk stunt.
“He was not a proponent of me jumping off the cage. Not taking anything away from Mick Foley, but this was the new Hell in a Cell. This was bigger, substantially higher. Mark [Calaway, The Undertaker] would say there were other things we could do, different iterations. But I told him no. This is what the story needs.”
Unlike the Mick Foley match, this Hell in a Cell moment occurred after a large chunk of the WrestleMania 32 encounter had already taken place.
Moments after McMahon’s leap, The Undertaker hit him with a Tombstone Piledriver to pick up the victory.
#3 The Undertaker pitched his American Badass gimmick
Between 1990 and 2000, The Undertaker portrayed The Deadman character that he became best known for during his 30 years in WWE.
As is often the case with WWE Superstars, there comes a time when it makes sense for someone’s character to undergo a transformation.
In modern-day WWE, the likes of Bray Wyatt (cult leader to The Fiend) and Roman Reigns (top babyface to Tribal Chief) have drastically altered their characters. Back in 2000, it was The Undertaker’s turn to debut a new persona.
Speaking on The Bump in 2020, The Undertaker recalled that he was worried about the WWE Universe’s reaction before his debut as The American Badass at Judgment Day 2000.
“As I'm sitting back there on that motorcycle — to say I was a little bit nervous is an understatement. I was more nervous here than when I made my debut in 1990. I'd already been there for 10 years, completely changing the character the way I did, you just don't know how they're going to take it... I was extremely nervous, but I knew it was the right thing to do.” [H/T Wrestling Inc.]
The Undertaker performed as The American Badass/Big Evil for four years before returning in 2004 as The Deadman.
#2 The Undertaker initially rejected the return of The Deadman
The Undertaker did not compete in any WWE matches between his Survivor Series loss to Vince McMahon (November 2003) and his WrestleMania 20 victory over Kane (March 2004).
When The Undertaker made his return in that match against Kane, he ditched his American Badass gimmick and came back as the original Deadman character that he portrayed during his first decade in WWE.
Speaking on his Something to Wrestle With podcast, Bruce Prichard revealed that The Undertaker did not like the idea of ending his four-year run as The American Badass.
“It was a battle. It was a multi-month battle to really convince him that this would work and he didn’t think that people wanted The Deadman back, he really didn’t. He just wanted to continue on with The American Badass and felt it was a step back to go to the old Undertaker.” [H/T Michael McClead, Wrestle Zone]
Prichard added that it took constant dialogue and “a lot of begging” to finally convince The Undertaker that he should revert back to his original character.
#1 The Undertaker pitched The Unholy Trinity idea at WrestleMania 36
The Undertaker’s cinematic Boneyard match with AJ Styles was widely considered to be the best match across both nights at WrestleMania 36.
Heading into the event, The Undertaker repeatedly said in promos on WWE RAW that Styles, Karl Anderson, and Luke Gallows would feel the wrath of The Unholy Trinity.
It was speculated that two people who are close to The Undertaker in real life, Michelle McCool (his wife) and Kane (his storyline brother), could even up the numbers against Styles and the rest of The O.C.
However, as The Undertaker explained in an interview with Nine Line Apparel, The Unholy Trinity actually referred to the three personas he played in the match: The Deadman, The American Badass, and himself.
“A lot of people have been curious, ‘What is The Unholy Trinity?’ Well, the Unholy Trinity that I referenced was The Deadman, The Badass, and then the man himself – obviously Mark Calaway – and put them all together, and that was kind of my brain was working that way. It was the unification of all these three entities into one person, so that’s where that came from.”
Unless The Undertaker reverses his retirement decision, the Boneyard match will go down as the final match of the legendary Superstar’s career.
